


The Turn of the Wheel

by Takk



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Angst, Gen, Patch 5.0: Shadowbringers, Patch 5.3: Reflections in Crystal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:07:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25896424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Takk/pseuds/Takk
Summary: Elidibus was ever alone.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	The Turn of the Wheel

Silence filled the void between the Emissary and his kindred. _How long had they slept?_ A passing thought that guttered like a dying flame within Elidibus' mind; it mattered not how long, only that the void betwixt them grew wider with the slow turn of the wheel. Dimly, his thoughts turned to the hollow gaze Lahabrea had regarded him with with his arrival. Igeyorhm slouched before them, her work ruined as the myriad skeins of aether unwound beneath her unversed hand and the whole of the Thirteenth was lost to them. Unukalhai took shelter within the drape of his robes like a shroud, eyes glazed with lingering sorrow as Elidibus meted out his judgment.

A lesson was needed. A reminder. They were but children, these sundered, and Lahabrea was seemingly ever so fond of this one. _Why?_ It mattered not. Lahabrea rebuked him, his _presence_ was unneeded. Unwanted. Frightening. 

_As if you did not_ know _me in your heart, Speaker. You called unto me in your failure and I answered. A miracle of Zodiark Himself._

Lahabrea fell into silence, his boundless pride injured at the unspoken accusation and the chasm yawned wider with his departure. Igeyorhm followed. She was devoted and the words of the Speaker surely enamored her further to their cause. Their duty.

The wheel turned. 

Unukalhai slept. Lahabrea gathered disciples to his table and they drank deep of his teachings; both potential and promise nourished them. Fandaniel snapped at the bit upon their awakening, glutted themselves on the power that flooded their misshapen hosts and ushered forth to realize their duty.

Elidibus slipped into the skin of another and waged war across the Fifth. Joy filled him for but a moment as the world righted itself under his dutiful hand. Lahabrea observed in silence and then he was alone. 

The wheel turned.

Blood coated his hands as he strode across the Twelfth and the masses flocked to him in their terror. He was but a brief poultice until they dispersed once more upon the aether. One was lifted from it in its death throes; Nabriales clung to him in the aftermath, fear coursing through him like ripples upon a pond until he basked in the void. Unukalhai wept beneath his pale mask upon his waking and the world seemed a little less wrong.

Yet, _they_ still had need of him.

That is all that mattered.

The Emissary flickered above the peaks of Ilsabard, pinpricks of blue light twinkling beneath him in reflection of the sunless heavens above. Acrid clouds swathed the city below, belched forth from the manufactories that _Solus zos Galvus_ made his wars with and carefully laid their plans for the future. The work continued. It always had, but for the dalliance Emet-Selch had deigned to accept as part of his role. An act to play as the sundered creatures that skittered around him, eyes upturned always to the ruler he molded himself to be. He should be elsewhere.

Elidibus reached outward and the aether parted to cacophonous revelry with his passage through it. Oddly garbed figures danced and cavorted across the stage far below, mere shadows upon the lit backdrop as music within the pit roared to their movements. Next to him, Emet-Selch was swaddled in furs upon his chair, eyes alight as he took in the spectacle before him with dark rivulets staining his cheeks.

Worry and confusion flooded him, hand reaching outward to delicately touch his brother's and assuage his woes. He must. _Is this why he called out to me? He is.._

Emet-Selch recoiled at the touch as if scorched, brow knitting into a darkened furrow as he wheeled to regard the Speaker from his seat. His expression wavered, spasmed; settled into a detached, distant gaze with a mirthless smile. “Must you worry about me so, Elidibus?”

“You busy yourself far too much with these distractions, brother,” Elidibus began, withdrawing his wavering hand and turned his gaze downward to the theatre troupe below. Emet-Selch waved a hand dismissively, following Elidibus’ gaze. “These.. amusements. They trouble you. You need not forget the duty placed upon you with such petty diversions. It is beneath you.”

“Ah, perhaps you see it as thus, but I am merely playing my role, dear Emissary. After all, what a boor to the people I would be without these indulgences. You needn’t concern yourself here with my doings and, no, I have not forgotten _our_ duty. You are ever the worrier even now, aren’t you?”

Elidibus glanced back to him, his own expression faltering beneath his mask and hooded robe at the title slung at him. _Worrier_. Someone had once called him that upon the steps of the Akademia Anyder as he hurried within. “I felt you call to me. I answered.”

“Well, I’ve no need of you,” Emet-Selch countered smoothly, eyes still following the actors as he delicately caressed a gloved thumb across his cheeks. “I would invite you to stay, but we both know you’ve no need of this either and you’ve already missed one of the best parts of this production.”

A dismissal. A rebuking.

He hadn’t seen him in so _long_. Elidibus withdrew to the void without a word, confusion scattering his thoughts as an ache deep within his breast grew. Better to think of the duty before him. They would expect it of him.

The wheel turned and another age passed before him.

Unukalhai stirred from his slumber once more and gently took Elidibus’ hand. The ache did not abate. 

He was alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Elidibus is not the person he was at his sacrifice to become Zodiark's heart and I feel that it had great ramifications on the relationship he held with Emet-Selch and Lahabrea. I feel that even with the 'duty' that they saw before them of bringing about the Ardor, they were estranged not just through the ages, but through the very presence of Elidibus. I wanted to explore this following the patch and hope I did their characters a service.


End file.
